This Thursday was KRC First Jump / Dressage Fun Night, for $5.00 a round or test you could take advantage of the clubs jumps, or do a dressage test and get some feedback. Brianne and I hauled down Oz from the farm, good opportunity for more exposure to different location. After a quick stop at Timmys we were at the club, my aunt Sherry (Ozzys #1 fan, as she's come out to everyone of Oz's shows) and she brought my grandmother too, whose never seen me ride. After a 20 minute flat warm up/lesson - working on Ozzy bending to my leg, instead of ignoring it and just rushing, we were starting to get warm and sweaty and were ready for jumping. The first go around Kyra and Magic (Brianne's other student that was down) went first, which was benefitial as I didn't get time to look at the course and was hoping Kyra did it right. Then it was our turn, as it was crossrails I didn't really have any concerns about whether we would clear them, just it was about me trying to quickly learn the course on the fly. After a couple of X rail rounds, we moved the jumps up to 2' 0 Verticals. Then the test was on... as I tend to psych myself out with verticals, which I was doing as we went over the first three jumps, but after that it just got better, and I wasn't so tense and non focusing. We did 2'0 a couple of times, and we were enjoying it. Although Oz was starting to either get bored or tired or both, he's starting to relize that he can do this, and maybe the challenge is gone. Trying to stay one step ahead of this clever boy is becoming a job! During this jumping session, I wasn't overly impressed with myself, as I knew there was some definate dog of jumps that we did, and I wasn't concentrating on it as well as I should have been.
Thank god Brianne was there, for there was one jump #3 that I kept staring down at it as we rode to it, #4 was way across the ring, so I wasn't looking at the next jump, but as I got to my Deer Caught In Headlights Stare, I heard - Look at my hand, and Brianne was in my direct line, and I would focus on her hand or her lovely outfit :0), and the jump was fine, and off to #4 we would move. And through out our rounds both here and elsewhere, I am constantly holding my breathe and its not till I hear her say "Breathe" do I actually take a breathe.
We also tried our hand at 2'3 verticle and that was a good round as well, we are definately starting to get cocky out there though as there was a couple of jumps we took at a canter and really we aren't at that point quite yet. I think we've definately improved from when we first started lessons (10 lessons ago), as now I know when I jump something and I've totally dogged it and either had no release, or was way over him, and then there are some jumps that just feel AMAZING (those are the addicting ones) and then others where you can't quite tell how you did.
After our 2'3 set we thought we were done and Kyra and I cooled out our horses and waited around and watched some other go. About a half hour later, friends from Mission Creek Ranch showed up and we were talking with them and they wanted to see Oz go. So Brianne and Sandra and another gentleman were soooo kind to drop the jumps down (as they were now at 2'9) for us to an assortment of sizes, some X rails, some verticles, some wide X rails, and then a lovely little oxer - which although if asked terrify me on the ground, but as we are going over them, Oz feels incrediable and I LOVE THEM!!!!
Oz knew suddenly he had a crowd and had his A game on, now he felt alert and energized and I think we cantered a couple also. Prior to this some jumps I had to give him a tap to remind him that he does have to put in SOME effort, but now there was no need for that.... he had his spectators and so he knew he had to do it right... (little bugger!)
All in all, it was a great night, and left me more and more excited about Maple Ridge! I was so pumped up from it - it was certainly hard for me to fall asleep.
Today I had the ring to myself, and its just a practice work out day. I thought about racing around in the field - wishing I could take him out to the polo track and run him around that. But I knew that in the field its a struggle for us to stay in control and not just forward. So we worked for about 20 minutes in the ring on bending, and moving off my leg. I had my leg working today so much I think there was a moment or two that I had a good calf cramp. I noticed when jumping yesterday that sometimes I ride with a leg on, and then often if I'm not thinking about my seat then I'm riding with a leg off, and more or less steering. So today I was very aware of keeping contact with him and my leg and he worked hard. Twenty minutes and we had a sweat on his neck AND his butt and back end. Then I set up a couple of jumps, one with flowers which looked like it might have been set at 18", and we jumped that with no problem a couple of times. Then there was the pink jump that was a verticle with no fill. When we rode around it I thought hmmm... that looks very high, but I would compare the holes to the other jump and I thought, well its only 2 holes up from where the other jump is, so its got to be 2'3, maybe 2'6 (which I think we have done before). So I just figured it looked large because there was nothing under it. Up till now Oz was awesome! Collected at times, paying attention, not fighting me, would slow down when I asked, and speed up when I wanted him to. Just a perfect pair. Then we went at the big vertical as we went to it, I knew as we went up to it that we weren't going to clear it, we came in too close, and I jumped ahead of Oz.... so he hit it with his front legs and it came down.
NOW IT WAS ON - is what Oz thought, my quiet perfectly collected hunter horse became a raging, jump attacking horse. We went back over the smaller vertical, and then I got off upped the yellow smaller vertical by a hole, and changed the pink to a cross pole jump and got back on. But now Oz was a crazed jumping fool and every jump he was clearing it by an extra foot. It wasn't making it for the smoothest ride or jump, but I wasn't falling on his neck, and only caught him in the mouth twice. He did try to refuse the smaller jump with the flower fill once and then we won't be doing that again. But it was a fight now with him to keep him calm. At one point I looked at our shadow in the ring, and all I saw was him sort of resting on his back end, and his head way up, almost in a perma launch position.
We had noticed before he hates dropping poles, specially with his front legs, and he'll definately correct himself and make sure he has plenty of clear for the next jumps.
So a dozen jumps in all tonight, and a race up the field and he was done. Such a good boy! I certainly hope he knows how special he is and how even on a not perfect ride like tonight he's a one in a million horse.
After I put him back out in the field with Chili his buddy, I grabbed my tape measure to see exactly what we were jumping. Well the small jump that I thought was 18" was 2'0, and I had moved it up to 2'3 - and after the hit on the other jump, he was easily jumping this at 2'6. Then I checked the pink jump and I felt just awful! I was such a bad mum! What I thought was 2'6 was 3'0 at the bottom of the cup, so more like 3'3 with the pole. Ummm yeah - we've done 2'6 maybe a handful of times, and I've bumped him up a whole extra foot. Poor guy! But he has a heart of gold to even attempt it with me.
I think my aunt took some shots at the KRC Jump night, so once I see them I'll post the good ones.